Enough is Never Enough: Women’s Work in Academe *

It was evident that the women academics were highly committed to their jobs. Work seeped into all aspects of their lives. They prided themselves on their capacity for hard work. Work, for them, was not only the pursuit of scholarship, but included a range of supportive responses to colleagues and to students. Many of the women expressed the view that they had high standards or were perfectionists or workaholics. The women also described their responsibilities for service in the department or university. A few women spoke of positive experiences or consequences and pointed to greater freedom after tenure. Women thought they had too much responsibility for caring for students and for doing routine work in the department. For example, as more women and students from traditionally underrepresented groups enter the academy, the pressure on faculty from those groups to mentor and support these students increases.